What is a kundli? The birth chart and how to read its layout
A kundli (janma kundali) is a map of the sky at the moment and place of birth: where the Sun, Moon, planets and the rising sign were, arranged in twelve houses. It is the starting point for every personal reading in Jyotish, from dashas to compatibility.
1. Foundations · lesson 4 of 10
Key points
- A kundli needs three inputs: date, exact time and place of birth (latitude, longitude and time zone).
- It shows twelve houses; the first house holds the Lagna (rising sign), and the other signs follow in order.
- The North Indian style keeps the houses fixed and writes sign numbers in them; the South Indian style keeps the signs fixed and marks the Lagna.
- A full kundli report also lists each graha's degree, nakshatra, dignity, divisional charts, dashas and the panchang at birth.
- Two people born the same day in the same city can have different kundlis if their birth times differ by more than an hour or two.
- The Moon chart (Chandra kundli) and the Navamsha (D9) are read alongside the main Lagna chart.
What the word means
Kundli or kundali (कुंडली) comes from kundala, a ring or coil, after the circle of the zodiac; janma kundali is the birth chart. In Western terms it is a horoscope. It records, for one moment and one place, the sidereal sign and degree of each of the nine grahas and of the Lagna, the point of the zodiac rising on the eastern horizon.
Because the sky turns once a day, the Lagna changes sign roughly every two hours. That is why the kundli depends so heavily on birth time: the planets barely move in two hours, but the houses they fall into shift completely.
What you need to make one
Three pieces of data, each as exact as possible:
| Input | Why it matters | How precise |
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | Places the planets; the Moon moves about 13° a day. | Exact date |
| Time of birth | Sets the Lagna and houses; the Lagna moves about 1° every 4 minutes. | To the minute if possible |
| Place of birth | Latitude and longitude change the Lagna; the time zone converts clock time to universal time. | The town is enough |
The calculation converts local clock time to universal time, finds the planets' tropical positions, subtracts the ayanamsa, and computes the Lagna from the local sidereal time and latitude. The birth time lesson explains what to do when the time is uncertain.
The two common layouts
The same chart can be drawn in two ways, and both show exactly the same information.
| Feature | North Indian (diamond) | South Indian (square) |
|---|---|---|
| What stays fixed | The houses: the top central diamond is always house 1 | The signs: Pisces is always the top-left box, Aries next to it |
| What is written | The sign number in each house (1 = Mesha … 12 = Meena) | The Lagna is marked in its sign box |
| Reading houses | Easy: count diamonds anticlockwise from the top | Count signs clockwise from the Lagna box |
| Reading signs | Look at the numbers | Easy: each box is a sign |
| Common in | North and central India | South India and Sri Lanka |
East Indian (Bengal and Odisha) charts use a third square layout similar to the South Indian one but drawn anticlockwise. Learn whichever your family uses; this site draws both, and the chart styles lesson goes into detail.
Reading a North Indian chart step by step
Worked example: the Lagna in Kumbha
Suppose the top central diamond shows the number 11. House 1 is therefore Kumbha (Aquarius), and this is a Kumbha Lagna chart. Moving anticlockwise, the next diamond (house 2, upper left) shows 12, Meena; house 3 shows 1, Mesha; and so on around the chart. If 'Mo' is written in the diamond that shows 2, the Moon is in Vrishabha and sits in the 4th house, since Vrishabha is the fourth sign counted from Kumbha (Kumbha 1, Meena 2, Mesha 3, Vrishabha 4).
Two numbers matter for each planet: the sign (the number in its diamond) and the house (the diamond's position from the top). The sign describes how a planet expresses itself; the house describes where in life it acts. The rest of this course builds on that distinction.
What a full kundli report contains
The chart diagram is only the summary. A complete report, like the one on this site, adds layers that classical reading needs:
- Planet table: sign, exact degree, nakshatra and pada, sign lord, dignity (exalted, own, friendly, debilitated), retrograde and combust marks.
- Houses: the sign, lord and occupants of each house, and which grahas aspect it.
- Divisional charts (vargas): the Navamsha (D9) for marriage and inner strength, the Dashamsha (D10) for career, and others up to D60.
- Dashas: the Vimshottari periods from birth, with the period running now.
- Panchang at birth: tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga, karana, and avakhada details used in matching.
- Yogas and strengths: named combinations, Ashtakavarga and Shadbala.
Lagna chart, Moon chart and Navamsha
Classical reading looks at the chart from more than one starting point. The Lagna chart (D1) is primary. The Moon chart (Chandra lagna) counts the houses from the Moon's sign instead; it describes the mind and is the basis for transits and horoscopes. The Navamsha divides each sign into nine parts and is read as a second chart, particularly for marriage and for confirming the strength of a planet. A planet strong in all three is considered reliably strong.
Common mistakes
- Making a kundli from an approximate birth time and trusting the house placements. Check how close the Lagna is to a sign boundary first.
- Forgetting the time zone or daylight saving time for births outside India; a one-hour error moves the Lagna by about 15°.
- Confusing the house number with the sign number in a North Indian chart.
- Reading only the D1 chart; the Moon chart and Navamsha are part of a classical reading.
See it on your chart
Make your chart in the free Kundli. Switch between North and South style with the Chart style menu, and choose the Moon chart or the Navamsha in the second chart menu. Every section listed above appears in the report, and each has its own lesson in this course.
Questions and answers
Is a kundli the same as a horoscope?
Yes. 'Kundli', 'janma kundali', 'janam patri' and 'birth chart' all mean the chart of the sky at birth. A daily horoscope is different: it is a general reading for everyone with the same Moon sign.
What if I don't know my birth time?
The planets' signs (except usually the Moon on a sign-change day) can still be found, but the Lagna and houses cannot be relied on. See the birth time lesson for ways to narrow it down.
Why do two websites show different charts for me?
Usually a different ayanamsa, a wrong time zone, or a different house system. This site states each of these in the report header.
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra ch. 4–7 (signs, houses, divisional charts); Varahamihira, Brihat Jataka ch. 1; standard North and South Indian chart conventions.